Art car

I first discovered the phenomena of art cars while viewing a PBS documentary, Wild Wheels (1992). Filmmaker and art car owner Harrod Blank documented the people and the cars they use as a means of expression in this short film.

The use of automobiles as a symbol of identity is not new. Hippies used to decorate their VWBuses with flowers and swirls of psychedelic bliss. Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters decorated the bus FURTHER and drove it across country. Hearses too have been used as expressive attention getters.

Since the documentary, the art car craze has grown tremendously. Art car parades, fests and shows have emerged as genuine events. Blank even made a follow up film in 1997 titled Driving The Dream, which featured his Camera Van.

Materials and themes vary with the art cars. Paint, glitter, toys, buttons, beads, foam, magnets and stickers are typical decorations. Regardless of material, it is the vision, the inspiration of these car owners which alters our perceptions within the normal realm of consciousness.

Cat cars - many of these of different breeds; leopard, tiger... some have horns that "meow". Typically, these go with the motif of the particular cat they are meant to resemble, leopard has spots, tiger has stripes etc. The interiors resemble the coats of the animals.

It doesn't end there. People use their cars to create religiousicons. Glue and just about any piece of junk can come together to transform a regular means of transportation into a work of art. It seems that the process starts small and becomes a passion. The vehicles evolving from a single bumper sticker to a bumper sticker car. A new folk art.